It's a costly fact of life that all of us are only too familiar with. Staten Islanders live and for the most part work in the highest tolled county in America.

The toll for drivers who pay cash to cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge – which the Metropolitan Transportation Authority exploits as a virtual ATM -- is $15 for cars and from $30 to more than $100 for trucks.

This underscores why both Islanders and business people who use the Verrazano regularly count on the toll relief provided through E-ZPass discounts.

Because those motorists account for a major portion of the nearly 200,000 vehicles that cross the bridge daily, the tight-fisted MTA and its political backers in Albany have been notoriously reluctant and slow to limit the tolls.

Almost 87 percent of drivers crossing the bridge use E-ZPass.

Loosening the financial choke hold on Staten Island's only direct road to the rest of New York City has been difficult to accomplish.

So it comes as a relief in more ways than one to see that a new and long overdue package of Verrazano toll discounts has finally taken full effect.

The first round of E-ZPass discounts that began in April lowered to $5.50 the toll for Staten Island residents who cross the bridge three or more times in a month. It was a reduction of 50 cents in the discount rate for Islanders.

Now the second half of the package has made its debut.

VNB tolls have been reduced by 20 percent for commercial vehicles that make more than 10 trips over the bridge per month with the required E-ZPass tag. This cuts the discounted rate for the smallest trucks to $15.43 and for the biggest to $58.98.

Rebates dating from April 1 have been approved for both private cars and commercial vehicles.

For more than a year, the Island's elected officials had been putting pressure on Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the State Legislature to obtain these discounts.

"We've been able to lower tolls for Staten Islanders to the lowest level, adjusted for inflation, in 40 years," said State Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island).

He praised Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island) for helping to reach the bipartisan deal with the governor on Verrazano discounts.

Speaking about the co-operation in Albany, Mr. Lanza said: "By working together we've accomplished what everyone said couldn't be done and have delivered real relief to Staten Island families and businesses."

For his part, Mr. Cusick declared: "These discounts will help to put money back in the pockets of hard working Staten Islanders. This business discount is vital to the small businesses throughout the metropolitan and coupled with the resident discount ensures that there is significant toll relief for Staten Islanders."

Better late than not at all, of course.

Our political leaders deserve credit for pushing through much-needed toll relief on the Verrazano, which is a real boost for the Island's economy.

We urge them to help prevent the MTA from trying to squeeze excessive revenue from ther Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, its favorite cash cow.